Last week we painted a grim - but pretty accurate - picture of a job squeeze that's been felt across industry. This week we attempt to identify the glimmers of hope on a landscape littered with job freezes, salary cuts and layoffs.

ET reached out to a slew of experts - HR heads at companies, senior executives at search firms as well seasoned executives and serial entrepreneurs - for tips on how to survive the squeeze. We've tailor-made the advice to suit three distinct sets of employees: fresh graduates, mid-level executives and senior management.

Check in which bracket you fit:

FRESH GRADUATES

Some 17.6 lakh engineers and 3.85 lakh MBA graduates will pass from colleges this year. When fresh hiring is virtually at a freeze, here are some of the options, particularly for those from Tier II and III colleges.

INTERNSHIP: Take up such assignments even if it involves working without pay, advises TV Mohandas Pai, chairman of Manipal Global Education. Keep in mind that at the entry level, experience and exposure to the workplace is a significant payback.

HIGHER STUDIES: If you have passed from lesser known Tier II or III college, explore options around further studies from a more reputed institution. Perhaps you would be better equipped in terms of knowledge and qualifications once the downturn — or at least the worst of it — has subsided.

THINK PSUs: Yes they're old-fashioned, ordinary paymasters and won't offer you stock options. But in a market like this, they may actually be safer havens. Bank probationary officer exams are back in fashion as is the Graduate Aptitude Test (GAT) in engineering, the scores of which are widely used by PSUs hiring at the entry level.

SOCIAL MEDIA: As India Inc becomes more active online, it needs people who understand social media. The good news, at least for the youth: few people in their 40s are at home with online media. Social-media-loving youngsters are an ideal fit into companies looking to manage their social media strategies, says Sanjay Mehta, cofounder of Social Wavelength.

MID-LEVEL EXECUTIVES

They are the most vulnerable lot because they form the bulk of the corporate world and in tough times the first to face the axe. Take the example of TutorVista, which brought down its staff count from 280 to 160 in the downturn of 2008. "The front-end staff like teachers are operationally critical for a company like TutorVista to do business," explains K Ganesh, founder of the online tutoring company. "The better-paid mid-managers are not directly bringing in the revenues. Also, laying off one middle manager helps save four entry-level jobs." They're also vulnerable because they're steeped in family responsibilities, financially stretched with home loans, school fees and other similar commitments. Losing a job — without having built a financial cushion — can be devastating. Their options?

LOOK FOR BENEFICIARIES OF A DOWNTURN: If you thought nothing like that existed, take the example of the garments sector, a beneficiary of a depreciating rupee. The garments exporters collectively employ around 37 million people. Just one of them is the Rs 1,200-crore Orient Craft, which employs 29,000, and clocked its best-ever growth last year; the company has now revived a plan it shelved two years ago to build a plant in Rajasthan. Chairman Sudhir Dhingra says they will hire around 1,000 people in the next one year. Manish Sabharwal, founder of staffing firm TeamLease, has a similar story. At a time when companies do not want to hire full-time staff, they are resorting to filling those positions with temp staff. Result? TeamLease is clocking 25-30% annual growth in business.

JOIN START-UPS: Though risky, they have their advantages. Typically, they are more willing to experiment in hiring than big companies. But it can be hectic, chaotic with no clear career path ahead. And, you may have to take a haircut.

SWITCH SECTORS: Do some research, some soul-searching and a bit of crystalball-gazing and try figuring out where the next big opportunities could come from, and select a couple. Take free online courses from Coursera, Udacity or any on the massive open online course platforms to understand the chosen sector well.

SHIFT CITY: Location is often a deal breaker for many people while finding new jobs. But Pratik Kumar, executive V-P (HR) of Wipro Group, advocates flexibility and pragmatism in difficult times.

SENIOR MANAGEMENT

Whilst it can be ego-wrenching, fact is senior management executives are the least vulnerable to layoffs. Chances are high that they belong to the 'crore club', have managed to build assets and a decent nest egg. The bigger concern is making it to the headlines as somebody who was 'sacked'. The options to salvage pride and a few lakhs:

TURN CONSULTANT: When Bluestone, an e-retailing start-up needed a CFO, it hired a part-timer because it simply could not afford a full-timer. So a CFO, once a finance honcho at a big corporation, joined them as consultant, working two days a week; he got similar assignments with a couple of other start-ups.

ROOT FOR SWEAT EQUITY: If there is an adequate financial cushion, one could explore opportunities in early-stage start-ups. Many of them are willing to hire senior executives with zero salary but sweat equity which offers a disproportionate upside when things work out. Almost the entire senior management at TutorVista came with this arrangement. So while initially they did not get a salary, they made a neat bundle when TutorVista sold out.